Games/Sports of Gor

Bat & BallPerhaps the most serious incident of the contests had occurred in one of the games of bat and ball; in this contest there are two men on each side, and the object is to keep the ball out of the hands of the other team; no one man may hold the ball for more than the referee's count of twenty; he may, however, throw it into the air, provided it is thrown over his head, and catch it again himself; the ball may be thrown to a partner, or struck to him with the bat; the bat, of course, drives the ball with incredible force; the bats are of heavy wood, rather broad, and the ball, about two inches in diameter, is also of wood, and extremely hard; this is something like a game of “keep away” with two men in the middle. I was pleased that I was not involved in the play. Shortly after the first “knock off”, in which the ball is served to the enemy, Gorm, who was Ivar's partner, was struck cold with the ball, it driven from the opponent's bat; this, I gathered, is a common trick; it is very difficult to intercept or protect oneself from a ball struck at one with great speed from a short distance; it looked quite bad for Ivar at this point, until one of his opponents, fortunately, broke his leg, it coming into violent contact with Ivar's bat. This contest was called a draw. Ivar then asked me to be his partner. I declined. “It is all right,” said Ivar, “even the bravest of men may decline a contest of bat-and-ball.” I acceded to his judgment. There are various forms of ball game enjoyed by the men of Torvaldsland; some use bats, or paddles; in the winter, one such game, quite popular, is played, men running and slipping about, on ice; whether there is any remote connection between this game and ice hockey.Marauders of Gor - page 140

Bone Gambling Imnak and I sat across from one another, both cross-legged. He dropped a tiny bone to the fur mat between us.Each player, in turn, drops a bone, one of several in his supply. The bone Imnak had dropped was carved in the shape of a small tabuk. Each of the bones is carved to resemble an animal, such as an arctic gant, a northern bosk, a lart, a tabuk or sleen, and so on. The bone which remains upright is the winner. If both bones do not remain upright there is no winner on that throw. Similarly, if both bones should remain upright, they are dropped again. A bone which does not remain upright, if its opposing bone does remain upright, is placed in the stock of him whose bone remained upright. The game is finished when one of the two players is cleaned out of bones.Beasts of Gor - page 184

Before, when I had won in the bone gambling, the dropping of the tiny figures of bone and ivory, I had, of intent, selected blond Thimble, whom I would, in the tenure of her service to me, name “Barbara”, putting that name on her, though then of course as a slave name.Beasts of Gor - page 224

Cards Dice and cards and game boards and drinking goblets scattered to the rocky floors of the guard chambers as Whip Slaves and guardsmen looked up to find at their throats the blades of desperate and condemned men, now drunk with the taste of freedom and determined to free their fellows.Outlaw of Gor - page 167

Cat's Cradle I tried cat’s cradle game but I could not play it. I always became confused, trying to copy the intricate patterns. How beautifully they would suddenly, in all their complexity, appear. The other girls laughed at my clumsiness. The northern girls, incidentally, were very skilled at this game. They could beat us all.Captive of Gor - page 107

In another place several women sat on a fur blanket playing a cat’s cradle game. They were quite skilled. This game is generally popular in the Gorean north. It is played not only by the red hunters, but in Hunjer and Skjern, and in Torvaldsland, and as far south as the villages in the valley of the Laurius.Beasts of Gor - page 196

Dice A number of men crowded between the tables then and some dice, inked knucklebones of the verr, were soon rattling in a metal goblet. Sura knelt before the table of Cernus, her head down. One of her guards snapped a slave leash on her collar. The leash key was on a tiny loop of wire. The guard twisted this wire about the red-enameled steel of her collar. Behind her the men began crying out, watching the tumbling of the knucklebones on the stones of the floor.Assassin of Gor - page 248

I passed a few fellows playing dice. There are many forms of dice games on Gor, usually played with anywhere from a single die to five dice. The major difference, I think, between the dice of Earth and those of Gor is that the Gorean dice usually have their numbers, or letters, or whatever pictures or devices are used, painted on their surfaces. It is difficult to manufacture a pair of dice, of course, in which the “numbers,” two, three and so on, are represented by scooped out indentations. For example, the “one” side of a die is likely to have less scooped-out material missing than the “six” side of a die. Thus the “one” side is slightly heavier and, in normal play, should tend to land face down more often than, say the ‘six” side, this bringing up the opposite side, the “six” side in Earth dice, somewhat more frequently. To be sure, the differences in weight are slight and, given the forces on the dice, the differential is not dramatic. And, of course, this differential can be compensated for in a sophisticated die by trying to deduct equal amounts of material from all surfaces, for example, an amount from the “one” side which will equal the amount of the “six” side, and, indeed, on the various sides. At any rate, in the Gorean dice, as mentioned, the numbers or letters, of pictures or whatever devices are used, are usually pained on the dice. Some gamesmen, even so, attempt to expend the same amount of paint on all surfaces. To be sure, some Gorean dice I have seen to use the “scooped-out” approach to marking the dice. And these, almost invariably, like the more sophisticated Earth dice, try to even out the material removed from each of the surfaces. Some Gorean dice are sold in sealed boxes, bearing the city’s imprint. These, supposedly, have been each cast six hundred times, with results approximating the ideal mathematical probabilities. Also, it might be mentioned that dice are sometimes tampered with, or specially prepared, to favor certain numbers. These, I suppose, using the Earth term, might be spoken of as “loaded.” My friend, the actor, magician, impresario and whatnot, Boots Tarsk-Bit, once narrowly escaped an impalement in Besnit on the charge of using false dice. He was, however, it seems, framed. At any rate the charges were dismissed when a pair of identical false dice turned up in the pouch of the arresting magistrate, the original pair having, interestingly, at about the same time, vanished.Magicians of Gor - page 59

“Larls, larls!” called a fellow. “I win!”“Alas,” moaned the other. “I have only verr.”“Larls” would be maximum highs, say, double highs, if two dice were being used, triple highs if three dice were in play, and so on. The chances of obtaining a “larl” with one throw of one die is one in six, of obtaining “larls” with two dice, one in thirty-six, of obtaining “larls” with three dice, one in two hundred and sixteen, and so on. Triple “larls” is a rare throw, obviously. The fellow had double “larls.” Other types of throws are “urts,” “sleen,” “verr,” and such. The lowest value on a singe die is the “urt.” The chances of obtaining, say, three “urts” is very slim, like that of obtaining three “larls” one in two hundred and sixteen. “Verr” is not a bad throw but it was not good enough to beat “larls.” If two dice are in play a “verr” and a “larl” would be equivalent on a numerical scale of ten points, or, similarly, if the dice are numbered, as these were, one would simply count points, though, of course, if, say, two sixes were thrown, that would count as “larls.”Magicians of Gor - page 60

Game of Favors A free woman, in swirling robes of concealment, veiled, appeared before me. “Accept my favor, please!” she laughed.She held forth the scarf, teasingly, coquettishly. “Please, handsome fellow!” she wheedled. “Please, please” she said.“Please!”“Very well,” I smiled.She came quite close to me.“Herewith,” she said, “I, though a free woman, gladly and willingly, and of my own free will, dare to grant you my favor!”She then thrust the light scarf through an eyelet on the collar of my robes and drew it halfway through. In this fashion it would not be likely to be dislodged.“Thank you, kind sir, handsome sir!” she laughed. She then sped away, laughing.She had had only two favors left at her belt, I had noted.Normally in this game the woman begins with ten. The first to dispense her ten favors and return to the starting point wins. I looked after her, grinning. It would have been churlish, I thought, to have refused the favor. Too, she had begged so prettily. This type of boldness, of course, in one that a woman would be likely to resort to only in the time of carnival. The granting of such favors probably has a complex history. Its origin may even trace back to Earth. This is suggested by the fact that, traditionally, the favor, or the symbolic token of the favor, is a handkerchief or scarf. Sometimes a lady's champion, as I understand it, might have borne such a favor, fastened perhaps to a helmet or thrust in a gauntlet.It is not difficult, however, aside from such possible historical antecedents, and the popular, superficial interpretations of such a custom, in one time or another, to speculate on the depth meaning of such favors. One must understand, first, that they are given by free women and of their own free will. Secondly, one must think of favors in the sense that one might speak of a free woman granting, or selling, her favors to a male. To be sure, this understanding, as obvious and straightforward as it is, if brought to the clear light of consciousness, is likely to come as a revelatory and somewhat scandalous shock to the female. It is one of those cases in which a thing she has long striven to hide from herself is suddenly, perhaps to her consternation and dismay, made incontrovertibly clear to her. In support of the interpretation are such considerations as the fact that theses favors, in these games, are bestowed by females on males, that, generally, at lest, strong, handsome males seem to be the preferred recipients of such favors, that there is competition among the females in the distribution of these favors, and that she who first has her “favors” accepted therein accounts herself as somewhat superior to her less successful sisters, at least in this respect, and that the whole game, for these free women, is charged with an exciting, permissive aura of delicious naughtiness, this being indexed undoubtedly to the sexual stimulations involved, stimulations which, generally, are thought to be beneath the dignity of lofty free woman.In short, the game of favors permits free women, in a socially acceptable context, by symbolic transformation, to assuage their sexual needs to at least some small extent, and, in some cases, if they wish to make advances to interesting males. There is not full satisfaction of female sexuality, of course, outside of the context of male dominance.Players of Gor - page 44

Girl Catch He had won her in Girl Catch, in a contest to decide a trade dispute between two small cities, Ven and Rarn, the former a river port on the Vosk, the second noted for its copper mining, lying southeast of Tharna. In the contest a hundred young men of each city, and a hundred young women, the most beautiful in each city, participate. The object of the game is to secure the women of the enemy. Weapons are not permitted. The contest takes place in an area outside the perimeters of the great fair, for in it slaves are made. The area is enclosed by a low wooden wall, and spectators observe. When a male is forced beyond the wall he is removed from the competition and may not, upon pain of death, reenter the area for the duration of the contest. When a girl is taken she is bound hand and foot and thrown to a girl pit, of which there are two, one in each city’s end of the “field.” These pits are circular, marked off with a small wooden fence, sand-bottomed, and sunk some two feet below the surface of the “field.” If she cannot free herself she counts as a catch. The object of the male is to remove his opponents from the field and capture the girls of the other city. The object of the girl, of course, is to elude capture.Beasts of Gor - page 41

Both the young men and women wear tunics in this sport. The tunics of the young women are cut briefly, to better reveal their charms. The young man wears binding fiber about his left wrist, with which to secure prizes. The young women, who are free, if the rules permit, as they sometimes do not, commonly wear masks, that their modesty be less grievously compromised by the brevity of their costume. Should the girl be caught, however, her mask is removed. The tunics of the girls are not removed, however, except those of the girls of the losing city, when the match has ended and the winner decided. The win is determined when the young men of one city, or those left on the field, have secured the full hundred of the women of the “enemy.” A woman once bound and thrown to the girl pit, incidentally, may not be fetched forth by the young men of her city, except at the end of the match, and on the condition that they have proved victorious. The captured women of the victorious city at the conclusion of the contest are of course released; they are robed and honored; the girls of the losing city, of course, are simply stripped and made slaves. This may seem a cruel sport but some regard it as superior to a war; surely it is cleaner and there is less loss of life; this method of settling disputes, incidentally, is not used if it is felt that honor is somehow involved in the disagreement.Beasts of Gor - page 42

Greased I saw some fellows gathered about a filled, greased wineskin. There was much laughter. I went over to watch. He who manages to balance on it for a given time, usually an Ehn, wins both the skin and its contents. One pays a tarsk bit for the chance to compete. It is extremely difficult, incidentally, to balance on such an object, not only because of the slickness of the skin, heavily coated with grease, but even more so because if its rotundity and unpredictable movements, the wine surging within in. “Aii!” cried a fellow flailing about and then spilling from its surface. There was much laughter. “Who is next?” called the owner of the skin. This sort of thing is a sport common at peasant festivals, incidentally, thought there, of course, usually far from a city, within the circle of the palisade, the competition is free, the skin and wine being donated by one fellow or another, usually as his gift to the festival to which all in one way or another contribute, for example, by the donations of produce, meat or firewood. At such festivals there are often various games, and contests and prizes. Archery is popular with the peasants and combats with the great staff. Sometimes there is a choice of donated prizes for the victors. For example, a bolt of red cloth, a tethered verr or a slave. More than one urban girl, formerly a perfumed slave, sold into the countryside, who held herself above peasants, despising them for their supposed filth and stink, had found herself, kneeling and muchly roped, among such a set of prizes. And, to her chagrin, she is likely to find that she is not the first chosen.Magicians of Gor - page 36

Kaissa The word actually cried was “Kaissa,” which is Gorean for “Game.” It is a general term, but when used without qualification, it stands for only one game.Assassin of Gor – page 26

The word actually cried was “Kaissa,” which is Gorean for “Game.” . . . even children find among their playthings the pieces of the game..... It is not unusual to find even children of twelve or fourteen years who play with a depth and sophistication, a subtlety and a brilliance, that might be the envy of the chess masters of Earth.Assassin of Gor - pages 26 – 27

"Perhaps that is all it is, after all," he said, "the meaningless movement of bits of wood on a checkered surface.""And love," I said, "is only a disturbance in the glands and music only a stirring in the air.""And yet it is all I know," he said."Kaissa, like love and music, is its own justification," I said. "It requires no other."Players of Gor – Page 236

"Look here," said Marlenus, reconstructing the board,"I have used the Assassin to take the City then the Assassin is felled by a Tarnsman ...an unorthodox, but interesting variation ...""And the Tarnsman is felled by a Spear Slave," I observed.Tarnsman of Gor - page 170

I wondered what thoughts occupied these giants of Kaissa on the eve of their confrontation. Scormus, it was said, walked the tires of the amphitheater, alone, restlessly, eagerly, like a pacing, hungry beast. Centius of Cos, in his tent, it was said, seemed unconcerned with the match. He was lost in his thoughts, studying a position which had once occurred a generation ago in a match between the minor masters Ossius of Tabor, exiled from Teletus, and Philemon of Aspericht, not even of the players, but only a cloth worker.The game had not been important. The position, however, for some reason, was thought by Centius of Cos to be intriguing. Few masters shared his enthusiasm It had occurred on the twenty-forth move of red, played by Philemon, Physician to Physician six, generally regarded as a flawed response to Ossius' Ubar to Ubara's Scribe Five. Something in the position suggested to Centius of Cos a possible perfection but it had never materialized."Here, I think," had said Centius of Cos"the hand of Philemon, unknown to himself, once came close to touching the sleeve of Kaissa."Beasts of Gor – page 62

"I studied the board before me." "It was set on a square chest. It was a board made for play at sea, and such boards are common with the men of Torvaldsland. In the center of each square was a tiny peg. The pieces, correspondingly, are drilled to match the pegs, and fit over them, This keeps them steady in the movements at sea. the board was of red and yellow squares. The Kaissa of the men of Torvaldsland is quite similar to that of the south, though certain of the pieces differ. There is, for example, not a Ubar but a Jarl, as the most powerful piece. Moreover, this is no Ubara. Instead, there is a piece called The Jarl's Woman, which is quite powerful, more so than the southern Ubara. Instead of Tarnsmen, there are two pieces called the Axes. The board has no Initiates, but there are corresponding pieces called Rune-Priest. Similarly there are no Scribes, but a piece, which moves identically, called the Singer. I thought that Andreas of Tor, a friend, of the caste of Singers, might have been pleased to learn that his caste was represented, and honored, on the boards of the north.The spearmen moved identically with the southern Spearmen. It did not take me much time to adapt to the Kaissa of Torvaldsland, for it is quiet similar to the Kaissa of the south. On the other hand, feeling my way on the board, I had lost the first two games to the Forkbeard. Interestingly, he had been eager to familiarize me with the game, and was abundant in his explanations and advice. Clearly, he wished me to play him at my full efficiency, without handicap, as soon as possible. I had beaten him the third game, and he had then, delighted, ceased in his explanations and advice and, together, the board between us, each in our way a warrior, we had played Kaissa.The Forkbeard's game was much more varied, and tactical, than was that of, say, Marlenus of Ar, much more devious, and it was far removed from the careful, conservative, positional play of a man such as Mintar, of the case of Merchants. The Forkbeard made great use of diversions and feints, and double strategies, in which an attack requiring usually only an extra move to make it effective, a move which, ideally, threatened or pinned an opponent's piece, giving him the option of surrendering it or facing a devastating attack, he then a move behind.In the beginning I had played Forkbeard positionally, learning his game. When I felt I knew him better, I played him more openly. His wiliest tricks, of course, I knew he would seldom use, saving the for games of greater import, or perhaps for players of Torvaldsland.Among them, even more than in the south, Kaissa is a passion. In the long winters of Torvaldsland, when the snow and darkness, the ice and wintry winds are upon the land, when the frost breaks open the rocks, groaning, at night, when the serpents hide in their roofed sheds, many hours, under swinging soapstone lamps, burning the oil of she sleen, are given to Kaissa. At such times, even the bond-maids, rolling and restless, naked, in the furs of their masters, their ankles chained to a nearby ring, must wait."It is your move, " said Forkbeard."I have moved," I told him. "I have thrown the ax to Jarl six.""Ah!" laughed the Forkbeard. He then sat down and looked again at the board. He could not now, with impunity, place his Jarl at Ax four. (starting page 60) Forkbeard put his first Singer to is own Ax four, threatening my Ax. I covered my piece with my own First Singer, moving it to my own Ax five. He exchanged, taking my Ax at Jarl six, and I his First Singer with my First Singer. I now has a Singer on a central square, but he had freed his Ax four, on which he might now situate the Jarl for an attack on the Jarl's Woman's Ax's file.The Ax is a valuable piece, of course, but particularly in the early and middle game, when the board is more crowded; in the end game when the board is freer, it seems to me the Singer is often of greater power, because of the greater number of squares it can control. Scholars weigh the pieces equally at three points in adjudication's, but I would weight the Ax four points in the early and middle game, and the Singer two, and reverse the weights in the end game.Both pieces are, however, quite valuable. And I am fond of the Ax."Your should not have surrendered your Ax," said Forkbeard."In not doing so," I said, "I would have lost the tempo, and position Too, the Axes regarded as less valuable in the end game.""You play the Ax well," said Forkbeard "what is true for many men many not be true for you. The weapons you use best perhaps you should retain."I thought on what he had said. Kaissa is not played by mechanical puppets, but, deeply and subtly, by men, idiosyncratic men, with individual strengths and weaknesses. I recalled I had many times, late in the game, regretted the surrender of the Ax, or its equivalent in the south, the Tarnsman, when I had simply, as thought rationally moved in accordance with what were reputed to be the principles of sound strategy. I knew of course, that game of context as a decisive matter in such considerations but only now, playing ForkBeard did I suspect that there was another context, involved, that of the inclinations, capacities and dispositions of the individual player. Too, it seemed to me that the Ax or Tarn might be a valuable piece in the end game, when it is seldom found. People would be less used to defending against it in the end game; its capacity to surprise, and to be used unexpectedly, might be genuinely profitable at such a time in the game. I felt a surge of power.Then I noted, uneasily the Forkbeard moving his Jarl to the now freed Ax four......"Your hall is taken," said the Forkbeard. His Jarl had moved decisively.The taking of the hall, in the Kaissa of the North, is equivalent to the capture of the Home Stone in he south. "You should not have surrendered your Ax," said the Forkbeard."It seems not," I said, The end game had not even been reached. The hall had been taken in the middle game. I would think more carefully before I would surrender the Ax in the future......Marauders of Gor – pages 56 - 63

"I looked to one side. There, lost to the bustle in the tavern, oblivious to the music, sat two men across a board of one hundred red and yellow squares, playing Kaissa, the game.One was a Player, a master who makes his living, though commonly poorly, from the game, playing for a cup of paga perhaps and the right to sleep in the tavern at night.The other, sitting cross-legged with him, was the broad-shouldered, blond giant from Torvaldsland whom I had seen earlier. He wore a shaggy jacket. His hair was braided. His feet and legs were bound in skins and cords. The large, curved, double-bladed, long-handled ax lay beside him. On his large brown leather belt, confining the long shaggy jacket he wore, which would have fallen to his knees, were carved the luck sings of the north.Kaissa is popular in Torvaldsland, as well as elsewhere on Gor. In halls, it is often played far into the night, by fires, by the northern giants. Sometimes disputes, which otherwise might be settled only by ax or sword, are willingly surrendered to a game of kaissa, if only for the joy of engaging in the game. The big fellow was of Torvaldsland. The master might have been from as far away as Ar, or Tor, or Turia. But they had between them the game, its fascination and its beauty, reconciling whatever differences, in dialect, custom or way of life might divide them.Hunters of Gor – page 47

Slave Bean Race I stopped for a moment to watch an amusing race. Several slave girls are aligned, on all fours, poised, their heads down. Then, carefully, a line of beans, one to a girl, is placed before them. She must then, on all fours, push the bean before her, touching it only with her nose. The finish line was a few yards away. "go!" I head. The crowd cheered on its favorites. On this sport, as well as on several others, small bets were placed. Sometimes a new slave, one who has recently been a haughty, arrogant free woman, is used in such a race. Such things, aside (pg. 39) from their amusing, and fitting, aspects, are thought to be useful in accommodating her to her new reality, that of the female slave. In them she learns something more of the range of activities that may be required of her.Magicians of Gor - page 38

Soccer Like Games he girl, with other youths, had been playing a soccer-like game with the leather ball, with goals drawn in the turf.Beasts of Gor - page 193

Stones At “Stones” however, I was genuinely pleased with myself. It has two players, who take alternate turns. Each player has the same number of “Stones,” usually two to five per player. The “Stones” are usually pebbles or beads, but in the cities one can buy small polished, carved boxes containing ten “stones,” the quality of which may vary from polished ovoid stones, with swirling patterns, to gems worth the ransom of a merchant’s daughter. The object of the game is simple, to guess the number of stones held the other’s hand or hands. One point is scored for a correct guess, and the game is usually set for a predetermined number of paired guesses, usually fifty. Usually your opponent tries to outwit you, by either changing the number of stones held in his hand or, perhaps, keeping it the same.Captive of Gor - page 107

“Stones! Guess stones!” called a fellow. “Who will play stones?” This is a guessing game, in which a certain number of a given number of “stones,” usually from two to five, is held in the hand and the opponent is to guess the number. There are many variations of “Stones,” but usually one receives one point for a correct guess. If one guesses successfully, one may guess again. If one does not guess successfully, one holds the “stones” and the opponent takes his turn. The game is usually set at a given number of points, usually fifty. Whereas the “stones” are often tiny pebbles, they may be any small object. Sometimes beads are used, sometimes even gems. Intricately carved and painted game boxes containing carefully wrought “stones” are available for the affluent enthusiast. The game, as it is played on Gor, is not an idle pastime. Psychological subtleties, and strategies, are involved. Estates have sometimes changed hands as a result of “stones.” Similarly, certain individuals are recognized as champions of the game. In certain cites, tournaments are held.Magicians of Gor - page 35

Tug of War “Help us, Tarl,” said Akko, whom I had met earlier in the day.“He is a big fellow,” said a man.“Yes,” said another.I followed Akko and his friends to a place where two teams of men waited, a heavy, braided rope of twisted sleen-hide stretched between them.They put me at the end of the rope. Soon, to the enthusiastic shouts of observers, we began the contest. Four times the rope grew taut, and four times our team won. I was much congratulated, and slapped on the back.Beasts of Gor - page 198

Zar He retired to the canopy beneath which, with water, he sat, cross-legged, with his companion. Between them they had, in the crusts, scratched a board for Zar. This resembles the Kaissa board. Pieces, however, may he placed only on the intersections of lines either within or at the edges of the board. Each player has nine pieces of equal value which are originally placed on the intersections of the nine interior vertical lines with what would be the rear horizontal line, constituted by the back edge of the board, from each player’s point of view. The corners are not used in the original placement, though they constitute legitimate move points after play begins. The pieces are commonly pebbles, or bits of verr dung, and sticks. The “pebbles" move first. Pieces move one intersection at a time, unless jumping. One may jump either the opponent's pieces or one's own. A jump must be made to an unoccupied point. Multiple jumps are permissible. The object is to effect a complete exchange of original placements. The first player to fully occupy the opponent’s initial position wins. Capturing, of course, does not occur. The game is one of strategy and maneuverability.Tribesman of Gor - page 265